More than
thirty years since, on a voyage from Europe, in a conversation with
his fellow passengers, the theme of discourse happened to be the
electromagnet; and one gentleman present related some experiments he had
lately witnessed at Paris, which proved the almost incalculable rapidity
of movement with which electricity was disseminated. The idea suggested
itself to the active mind of the artist, that this wonderful and but
partially explored agent might be rendered subservient to that system of
intercommunication which had become so important a principle of modern
civilization. He brooded over the subject as he walked the deck, or lay
wakeful in his berth, and by the time he arrived at New York, had so
far matured his invention as to have decided upon a telegraph of
signs, which is essentially that now in use. After having sufficiently
demonstrated his discovery to the scientific, a long period of toil,
anxiety, and suspense intervened before he obtained the requisite
facilities for the establishment of the magnetic telegraph. It is now
in daily operation in the United States, and its superiority over all
similar inventions abroad was confirmed by the testimony of Arago and
the appropriation made for its erection by the French Government.
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